The 17th witness, Azizul Fauzi Zakaria, 26, who is also Ebit’s former driver and assistant, said the live sessions were usually held during talk programmes or humanitarian aid missions organised by the preacher.

He said the live broadcasts for talk programmes typically began at 10am until noon or evening, while the aid missions for the homeless were conducted after the Isyak prayer until 11pm or midnight.

Beyond those periods, Azizul said he never used Ebit’s phone and, to his knowledge, no other staff member used it either.

He said this when asked by deputy public prosecutor Hidayat Wahab during the examination-in-chief on how the phone was used between midnight and 7am.

Azizul also told the court that he had never created or viewed pornographic material using the preacher’s mobile phone.

During re-examination by defence counsel Kamarudin Chinki, representing Ebit, Azizul agreed with the lawyer that the mobile phone was password-protected but said he could not recall the password.

“I don’t remember it. Every time I needed to unlock the phone, I would ask for the password. As for Uwais (another staff member), I’m not sure,” he said, adding that his access to the phone was limited to holding it during live broadcasts and that he could not view its contents.

Apart from Hidayat, the prosecution team also comprised deputy public prosecutors Analia Kamaruddin and Nor Azizah Mohamad, while lawyers Ram Singh, Kamarudin, Timothy Daut and Prabjit Singh Gill represented Ebit.

Ebit, 39, faces 11 charges, including insulting the modesty of a woman in her 40s by sending her obscene words and pictures via WhatsApp between March and June 2021.

The charge, under Section 509 of the Penal Code, provides for a maximum imprisonment of five years or a fine or both if convicted.